Hey there!
I am always so happy to hear from you all every week! You are just the best and I love you all dearly! This week I have had a LOT of emails to respond to- so I hope that this email is good.
I can hardly believe that it is December already. I have been out for over a year... and i will be home in about 5 months. I can hardly believe it. The sign in Walmart said that Christmas is only 23 days away!?! WHAT?! I love Christmas!!! Speaking of which- I listen to those Christmas CDs all the time! I love them immensely. Thank you so much for sending them! And I DID get the boots finally! They are great! I wore them once and it wasn't a super cold day all of sudden so they made my feet EXTRA toasty! So now they are special occasion, cold and wet weather boots :)
Congrats with the new job Mom! We don't know much about Christmas yet. Usually they let us work around our family so I don't think we will have any problems getting it all worked out :) No stress! Just let me know what times will work for you and we will get it figured out.
They got news about the car today... They are totaling it :( I ruined it... :( Our bodies are fine. No major repercussions. Walking around too much carrying my bag kind of wears on my back, but I do stretches everyday and that helps a lot. We should be getting a new car soonish though hopefully.
I am glad that Thanksgiving was fun for you all! This was an interesting Thanksgiving for us here. Being on post is so different! We were supposed to do member visits all day but because we didn't have a car and we have to be with members at all times on post, we kept getting stuck places and weren't overly productive. We walked an hour to go see a member in Oak Grove... and didn't make it before our ride picked us up for lunch. I love turkey though :) And pumpkin pie :) So we had about 4 lessons that day. Not as good as Christmas last year...
So to make up for it, the next day we set a goal of teaching 10 lessons. We taught 11! We tracted all. Day. Long. It was a bit exhausting. But we did see many miracles from our efforts. We taught a hispanic man and his two daughters. They gave us Mexican food and horchata! That was a miracle :) Plus, the gospel is really going to help them. We were happy to find him.
Yesterday was absolutely amazing. It started off kind of rough. I was just frustrated and being dumb. So I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me to find the good in this area and find a reason to stay at it and love it. While sitting in sacrament meeting, a family walked in and the Spirit poured over me. I wanted to cry. I DO love the people here. And I am starting to build relationships and make attachments to them.
I also had a cool insight during gospel principles. We were talking about temples and family history. The Spirit washed over me again and I realized that every effort we make is being watched by those on the other side of the veil. As a missionary on earth, the lessons and people we teach, impacts the work that is being done on the other side. I had never realized that before.
Last night, we had a lesson with Liz. Liz is our miracle investigator. We met her about a week ago when we decided to do a member visit. This member happens to be moving in about two weeks and she said she felt like Liz needed to meet us. We went over to her home and taught her about the Atonement and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was strong. We set a return appointment and invited her to our FHE. We a Family Home Evening on post! It was very successful! We had 4 active families, a less-active family, a part-member family and an investigator there! It was cool. We made hand-turkeys and did fun kid stuff :) Anyways, Liz came to that and had a great time. She also came to church. Then we had our second lesson with her.
She told us that she has been searching for a way to have more peace in her life. She wanted to know how to do it. We taught her, more in-depth, about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the role of the Holy Ghost. We then shifted gears and taught her the Restoration. After we had finished teaching, we paused. I asked her, "Liz, do you believe that this is true?" She said, "Yes, yes I do." Then she proceeded to tell us that after we left the first time, she had said something aloud- like a prayer to God. She said she felt a hand on her shoulder and peace filled her. We all started to cry. I asked, "Liz, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" She nodded. We sat in silence as the Spirit filled the room with an extraterrestrial force. God loves Liz SO much! She is VERY special. A choice spirit and daughter of our Heavenly Father. We set a baptismal date with her for December 14th. We will be having a white Christmas this year.
I am so grateful for the opportunities that Heavenly Father has given me on my mission. I have been pondering about all of the lives that the Lord has allowed me to be a part of. I was thinking last night of all of their names and faces. I could see them all dressed in white, standing together in the bright hallways of heaven. Liz, Cheryl, James, Jon, Jenn, Briana, Corey, Denisa, Hal, Cindy, Sister Phelps, Sister Lawrence, the Driskills, Sister Brewer, the Leckies, Kevin, Miranda, the Brocks, all of my family, all of my friends... they are all numbered and counted in heaven. All of them are known. Every single person that I have been able to meet has been sent here for a purpose. God's purposes are great. I am so grateful. So grateful.
The work of salvation is a beautiful thing. I hope that I never forget. I hope that none of us forget. This is what life is all about.
I love you all so much. I am very grateful for you.
Love you always,
Sister Alicia Johnson
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